2024 Ohio Safety Congress & Expo® (OSC24®)
Start planning which OSC24® educational sessions you want to attend! The full list of sessions is available on our website. Want to stay in the loop with all things OSC24®? Join our mailing list!
November BWC in-person training, safety webinars, and virtual training classes
BWC has numerous safety training opportunities in November for you and your employees. Of special note this month is an OSHA-10 class for the brewery industry Nov. 15-16, 2023, and an OSHA-10 safety class in Spanish (day 1: Nov. 30, 2023, day 2: Dec. 14, 2023).
Firefighter Exposure to Environmental Elements Grant
In July, we announced the expansion of the Firefighter Exposure to Environmental Elements Grant (FEEEG) to include turnout gear for volunteer firefighters. BWC has received 123 applications for turnout fear and has approved 38 – representing departments covering 816 volunteer firefighters.
Monthly Safety Topic
Protecting your loved ones
Musculoskeletal disorders injure thousands of workers every year. These injuries cost organizations billions of dollars in lost time and workers’ compensation costs. They can also impact the care of our loved ones. In extended care facilities throughout Ohio, patient handling is the leading cause of injury among caregivers. When a caregiver is injured, it impacts the lives of many. The caregiver and their family are affected as well as those residents who depend on their care. Nursing homes and assisted living centers that implement an ergonomic and safe patient handling program typically have fewer injuries. If faced with selecting a facility for your loved one, ask about the facility’s ergonomic and safe patient handling program. Check out these ergonomics and safe patient handling resources: Sample program template, ergonomics resources, and safety talks.
BWC Library Question of the Month
A question received by the library over the past month with our response.
Question: How often must emergency stop devices on machinery be tested?
Answer: OSHA Standard 1910.144 - Safety color code for marking physical hazards, does not specify e-stop testing frequency. You may want to follow the voluntary industry standard, B11.19-2019 Performance Requirements for Risk Reduction Measures: Safeguarding and other Means of Reducing Risk:
"10.12.1.14 Emergency stop devices shall be inspected and tested for proper operation according to the supplier’s recommendation and the user's established procedures at a suitable interval(s) as determined by the risk assessment, but not at an interval greater than one year. All necessary adjustments, maintenance, and repairs shall be made and complete before operating the machinery. See 11.3.4.
"E10.12.1.14 The interval should be based upon severity of the operating environment and the frequency of switch actuations."
If you need help with understanding emergency stop devices, including testing intervals, contact BWC’s Division of Safety and Hygiene. Consultation services are free for employers with a BWC policy. Find out more on our website.
Other Safety News
OSHA top 10 safety violations 2023
OSHA reported preliminary safety violation data for 2023 at a National Safety Council event in October. At the top of the most frequently cited workplace safety standards list for the 13th year in a row was Fall Protection – General Requirements. Read the rest of the list here.
10 simple safety steps
If you need to get a safety program started but you don’t have the ability to get a full program going, start with this set of 10 simple steps from the OSHA Safe + Sound program. When you are ready for more help, BWC is ready to assist. Consultation services are free for employers with a BWC policy. Find out more on our website.
Health care worker mental health crisis
The Centers for Disease Control released a new report on their Vital Signs website about health care worker mental health. The report describes the current crisis, challenges to those workers, and suggested actions employers can take to support these workers.
The Ohio BWC Library of BWC’s Division of Safety & Hygiene compiles and distributes this newsletter each month.
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